Posted on 06/21/2007 6:45:17 PM PDT by SJackson
IN THE CURRENT by GOLDA SHIRA By . (06/15/2007) President George Bush is my hero. No, this is not another Bush joke. The truth is that I have come to see him as a man of rare integrity. What a guy!
No, I wouldn't have said those things seven years ago. I certainly wasn't keen on the mechanics of his election. And I wasn't voting for a guy who started out not too interested in international involvements, certainly not in the Middle East.
Yet he has risen to the challenges presented during his presidency with courage and enormous self-sacrifice.
So you think he's doing this for daddy? You think he's doing this for a legacy?
How could that be? Look what he is enduring-not only constantly being the butt of jokes and (friends of) Pelosi's spitting through her teeth seething contempt, but also facing a 66% disapproval rating.
Doesn't seem to me that that's trying to win a popularity contest.
Except maybe Upstairs. Where it really counts. I think the man is really trying to do the right thing. No, it's not easy for me to say. Yes, I have very dear friends who have served and are about to go back to Iraq. My heart is in my mouth not only for them and their families but also for my very own sleepless nights and the anguish I endure every day they are away.
But that is the greatness of what America is and hopefully always will be: a nation willing to make wrenching sacrifices in the name of freedom and democracy.
It isn't easy. And we like easy. While we sit in our leather easy chairs and watch the biggest and newest HD flat screen TV and relieve our boredom with the latest flavor of chips (Tuscany parmesan sea salt guacamole salsa baked) and get really irate about the ending of "The Sopranos," or really annoyed that we can't see how much blood got spilled when someone got whacked on our favorite permutation of "CSI" because some special was on. While our domestic crime statistics rise and we blithely go about our business unwilling to do much to stop that senseless bloodshed, we are nonetheless enraged that our country has the nobility to stand up for the very values upon which this country was founded.
We can pretend otherwise but we pretend at our peril.
We love our violence but we love it only if it's wrapped up in 60 minutes. We choose instead the myopic focus on Paris Hilton and Jennifer Aniston's new boyfriend.
"Don't bring me down with this war stuff, man. War is not peace, man." And it sure as heck ain't easy.
Okay, so did we go into Iraq the right way? No. Did we make grave errors in how this war has been fought? Absolutely.
But there, too, the President again is humble enough to admit that. And to change course and put in men like General David Petraeus so we will correct course and do better. And we are.
Listen to our amazingly brave soldiers who almost unanimously say they want to stay and get the job done. They know it won't be fast and they know it won't be easy. They and the President know that to leave now is inviting greater tragedy the likes of which most Americans cannot conceive.
We elect leaders to lead and Mr. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have embodied the statesmanship to be true leaders in the face of unrelenting scathing attacks. And because Mr. Blair knew he was right, he willingly sacrificed his position as prime minister rather than back down.
Hello? Is anyone awake out there? Politicians don't do that. Leaders of true stature do. Risk themselves and their reputations and their good name for all time to come in the name of what is for the greater good.
They know the real and present danger global terrorism is, and not just because they're privy to intelligence we're not. They, and any of us who have lived or spent ample time in the region, know we're dealing with a mentality and an insidious and pervasive many-headed hydra that obviously most Americans can't and don't want to understand.
Until the next 9/11 or worse, G-d forbid. (Until then, we're back to our cushy routines. And they are cushy compared to the standard of living of the average Iraqi. Or the average Israeli.)
I think it presumptuous, ignorant and arrogant of us to think otherwise. I could be wrong. No one wants another Vietnam. We Americans are a good-hearted, heroic nation.
For posterity, what will matter in the end is not how "The Sopranos" end, but how this war will end. How we, the mostly highly-educated boomers who live in the legacy of Woodstock, grow up and confront the reality for which previous generations were willing to fight. To fight for what's right, do what needs to be done, even if it's hard, especially if it's hard, in order to create peace not just in one country, one region but also to help bring it to the world.
Golda Shira is a multi award winning journalist (Columbia University Press Association, numerous Rockower awards) who has been part of the White House Press Corps for the past ten years and has covered the Middle East for the last three decades.
I think his stand on immigration is extremely misguided and there have been a few other debacles on his watch. He doesn’t seem very conservative economically - Medicare prescription benefits is a dandy.
However,comparing him to Bill Clinton - who was about the most amoral narcissistic sleazeball president in the last 40 years at least seems a bit much (I know - what do I really think). President Bush is a good man and seems to care more about what he believes is right for the country than what’s politically popular (or, for that matter, what I and other conservatives would prefer that he do).
President Bush has done well on the Supreme Court nominees, despite a misstep or two. He has done well on many social issues. He and the military have made some serious mistakes in Iraq - but in a political environment that magnified the likelihood of those mistakes being made (kinder, gentler war - give me a break). And he recognizes the nature and import of the war against Islamofascism.
Heaven help us if any of the current Democrat contenders take his place.
Are you one of the paid white house posters?
Well then I'm not talking about you.
Read my post again.
He spends like Lyndon Johnson, but he cut taxes like Jack Kennedy.
He got by on judicial nominees.
Iraq, he made mistakes.
He leaves office in what, 19 months, and we discuss him in past tense.
He has been a complete disaster in getting his message out.
And nobody but you you could have done that.
You are truly a hero.
Great post. And a break from these Bush bashing rants!
Spare me the SELF-righteous indignation . . . So, you want a genuine conservative? Vis a vis EVERY objective measure (including those associated with immigration), President George W Bush is MORE conservative than President Ronald Reagan — and that’s a FACT!
You start by proving that I'm wrong.
Just because someone has finally found something to disagree with Bush on, after years of fierce support, you people attack. "I must not be a REAL conservative like you". Again, eating a baby? What would do it for you?
Gore seems to be a buffoon. Kerry seems to be a Traitorous Fool. Bush is a smart guy siding with those planning the destruction of the USA. As such, he may be the biggest Traitor of them all. I would like to see a recall petition to remove Bush, Cheney, Kennedy, Pelosi and Reid. After their political protection is gone, it would please me if they are dealt with as Traitors.
I think we have to step back and remember that Bush has control of the War reigns independant of the legislature. He has stayed the course, stared down funding threats from Congress and done the right thing in Iraq and abroad when it comes to the war. He deserves our respect and thanks for that.
But everyone has different opinions on the immigration bill. I frankly think it’s selling out our birth right and the first step the reclamation of Aztlan or whatever La Raza calls it. But I think President Bush just thinks this is a good idea, that it will solve some problems. He’s wrong on that. And, we the people, have the ability to influence or prevent that mistake by doing exactly what we’re doing.
If Bush enacted this as a policy or with some Executive Order, then I can see why everyone jumps off the good ship Bush, but he took what he thought was a good idea to Congress. If they don’t listen to us and pass this turd, then it’s on them EVERY BIT as much as it is on Bush. I don’t hate Bush for bringing it up - he’s from Texas, he’s buddies with Mexico’s President, etc. We knew going in that Bush was friendly to Mexican immigrants - illegal or otherwise.
It’s up to us to say this is bad legislation that the country doesn’t want and through our representatives, we want this bill killed and replaced with a simple border enforcement first measure. So trash Bush for this, but he’s doing what we all could have seen coming. Let’s put this one on the congressmen if it gets enacted. They are the ones in control of legislation. Period.
/rant
Sure you are. And I'm the Queen of England.
that’s a FACT!
No, that's an opinion.
I have a non-professional working knowledge of those planning the destruction of the USA.
I'm familian with GWB's connections with the Saudis, and his families and associates. I find it troubling
However treason is a serious charge.
Are you able to present anything remotefully factual to back that up?
He is my Nero!
Are you one of those paid disruptors from DU or just a hard-right version of the hard-left?
I said it couldn’t be topped. What a$$es you koolaid drinkers are. At least half responded with polite disagreement instead of questioning my conservatism and mocking off the bat.
Thanks. Your post may give a sense of proportion to the “what have ya done for me lately” crowd.
Blessings,
I could not disagree more. I am surprised at you. I am one of those who sees a political hack in McCain, an unstable man caring only about McCain and a very vengeful man who will also let you down when you need him.
He is of the Kennedy genre in my view.
Again, surprised.
Thank you for POLITE disagreement. Some here haver their heads so far up Dubya’s arse that they can’t see daylight. One disagreement on one issue in 6 1/2 years and I’m a commie troll.
So what’s your point? We’re not supposed to look for better then GEORGE W BUSH because he was better then Reagan? Well I’m looking for somebody better, because George W Bush has hurt the conservative agenda more then he’s helped it. We’ve lost control of Congress and we very well could lose the White House in 08,and while it may not be all Bush’s fault,he certainly can take a bow for his part in the current situation !!!
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